Antioxidizing composition



2,743,202 I AN'IIOX'IDIZING COMPOSITION Gino Amici, Rome, Italy 7 N Drawing. Application October 21, 1952, :Serial No. 316,050

Claims. (Cl. f1486.14)

This invention relates to antirnst or better, to an antioxidizing composition which is effective not only against rust but also against all oxides produced by metals capable offbeingoxidised.

v The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved composition of the indicated nature which will serve both to remove oxides from metal articles or parts, and :to provide protection against further oxidation of such articles or parts.

The composition. which can be made at any desired consistency depending upon its intended use, is particularly applicable to firearms which are extremely susceptible to oxidation due to the combined action of the gases of combustion and of atmosphere on the metal parts thereof, and to delicate mechanisms.

This application is a continuation-impart of my application Serial No. 116,850 filed September 20, i949, now abandoned.

It is already known to protect metal :parts against rusting by coating such parts with a layer of grease and it is also known to dip the pants in petroleum oil for the purpose (of removing rust which has already formed hereon,

According to the present invention, there is provided an antioxid-izing composition which serves both to remove and reduce rust or other oxides from metal articles and also to protect such articles against further oxidation through the formation on their surface of a protective oxide produced thereon by the oxygen activated by the e-pinenes. The composition includes a combination of saturated hydrocarbons in liquid form, such as fluid paraffiniand gasoline: the hydrocarbons being present in isuflicient quantity to dissolve existing rust -.or.'other oxides and to clean the metal surfaces. The composition further includes at least 20116 liquid terpenic jhydrocarbon comprising a-pinenes, which are capable of readily absorbing oxygen both from the dissolved oxides and from atmosphere and for this reason they change into a peroxidized condition in which they will then act as an oxidising agent.

The liquid 'terpenic hydrocarbon in such oxidizing form 2 ondly, after the oc-pinenes comprised in the .terpenic essence have become saturated or perox'idated by the absorbed oxygen, the terpenic essence becomes. itself an oxidising agent and then, accordingto'the well known action of the peroxides, produces on the metal surfaces to be protected, a peculiar .kind of oxide which .is very similar to the oxide obtained by an electrolytic oxidation of the metal and which protects the metal from further oxidation. The ot-pinenes which enablethe accomplishment of the foregoing, are terpenic hydrocarbons having the formula 0 R and because of their properties of autoxida'tion and of the a-pinenes begin to absorb oxygen through the double bond existing in their molecule and in this way they form aproduct of oxidation of peroxidic nature, i. e., C H O' which is capable of giving up half of its oxygen, the other half of the oxygen remaining fixed to the essence.

The released oxygen, activated by the a-pinenes, possesses such active oxidizing properties as to be'capable of oxidizing even some substances that the atmospheric oxygen per se is not capable of oxidizing.

The a-pinenes are the most widely spread tterpenic hydrocarbons found in nature, and they are comprised in several essences in both their optical varieties: levo and dextro rotatory. 4

Examples of terpenic essences comprisingu-pinenes dex-tro-rotatory are the essences from cypress, anise, laurel, nutmeg, fennel, camphor, myrtle, Eucalyptus globulus, and many others such as .the American essence of turpentine from Pizzas palustris and the German and 7 Swedish. essences of turpentine from Pinus silvestris, and

soon.

Examples of terpenic essences comprising a-pinenes levo-rotatory are the essences from needles or leaves of pinus pumilius and silvcstris, white cinnamon, Valerian, thyme, lavender, the French essence of turpentine from Pinus maritima and many others.

There is also the racemic variety of a-pinenes which is optically inactive, and is produced synthetically.

Though all teipenic essences or materials comprising a-p'inenes are'snitable for my antiox'idizing composition,

provided they are rectified or purified from their content will adhere .to the surface .of the metal in a thin film of said combination of saturated hydrocarbonsand will produce on such surface, by means of the oxygen activated by the a-pinenes, an oxide capable of protecting the said surface from further oxidation.

The present inventor has found that a liquid terpenic hydrocarbon, i. e., a 'terpenic essence comprising-a-pinenes such as can be produced from P-inus, Eucalyptus, juniper and many other plants, when mixed with .saturatedhydrocarbons such as fluid parafiin and gasoline provides an efiective antioxidizing composition.

previously stated, the liquid terpenic essence in the use of such composition Performs .a two-fold task:

1 J11 the zfirst :time, the a-pinenes comprised in the ter penic essence, after the antioxidizing composition has been spread on the metal to be protected, act as a deoxidizing agent absorbing oxygen :from the .air and reducing the rust or other kind of oxide formed on the :metal. Secin acidity and impurities, it is obvious from a practical and economical standpoint that it will be preferable to use, in my antioxidizing composition, those essences which are readily obtainable commercially and are less costly, andjwhich include the greatest amount of u-pinenescomponents, as for instance, the rectified essences of pinus,

eucalyptus, juniper, etc.

In the use of the present ant-iox'idizing composition, it

will be noted that the protection of the oxidizable metals is actually accomplished by the oxide produced in the second stage of its action as aforesaid, by'the oxygen activated by the a-pinenes and not by a film of grease 'or-fat as is generally the case with other antirust compositions.

The combination of saturated hydrocarbons in liquid form (gasoline, petroleum-oil, fluid parafiin, and the like") in the antioxidizing composition, has for its primary purpose, the uniting and combining of the liquid terpenic essences :into one homogeneous compound, thus preventing the .a-pinenes component from evaporating with its usual rapidity and thereby retaining it in contact with the metal for a suflicient length of time to enable it to perform on the metal being treated, firstly a deoxidizing action, and secondly, an oxidizing action.

The gasoline also acts to clean the surface of the metal and where necessary, removes and dissolves the rust or other oxides which may originally be present on the metal, thereby facilitating the direct contact of the a-pinenes with such rust or oxides during the first deoxidizing action, and subsequently with the metal for the oxidizing action. The fluid paraflin acts also as a lubricating agent.

From what has been said, it will be understood that the antioxidizing composition of the present invention is a practical utilization based on the peculiar properties of autoxidation and of activation of the oxygen possessed by the a-pinenes, and is realised by the incorporating or combining of these substances in definite proportions into one homogeneous compound, in particular kinds of saturated hydrocarbons in liquid form with the intent of preventing the a-pinenes from evaporating with their usual rapidity and with the result of enhancing their properties, thus maintaining them in direct contact with the metals for a sufficiently long time to enable them to accomplish both their described actions even in the open air.

The density of the composition depends on obtaining a homogeneous product in which the components have not tendency to separate and having a consistency which is suitable to the conditions under which it is to be used. Thus, when the composition is intended for use on the arms or delicate mechanisms, the composition should be diluted with gasoline to a point which can be found experimentally, at which it will not become so fluid in hot climates as to run off the metal parts to which it is applied and thereby leave the surfaces thereof uncovered by the composition, or at which it will not solidify or become too dense in cold climates.

An effective and commercially economical composition, which has given good results through ranges of temperatures greater than normally encountered, is obtained by utilizing fluid paraflin to provide the oily content, then diluting the paraflin as required by the addition of gasoline, and finally adding one or several liquid terpenic essences or materials comprising a-pinenes in sufficient quantity to act as a reducing agent on the oxides dissolved and removed by the gasoline, and then after having become oxidized, serve as an oxidising agent to produce on the metal surface a thin protective coating of oxide of a type capable of preventing further oxidation of the metal.

As a result of the action of the compound on the metal surface, the latter is modified chemically so that it becomes in eiiect immune from atmospheric oxidation or any other chemical action by gaseous agent for a long period, and this is accomplished without changing in the smallest degree the size or volume of the metal.

The modification of the metal surface can be observed when the oily portion of the compound remaining on the surface of the metal is removed because there occurs also av modification in the color of the metal. In the case of iron, this assumes a color varying from a very light grey to a darker grey and it can even become a bluish grey, just as occurs in the protective oxidation of iron by electrolytic method.

I have also found that as a result of the retardation of the evaporation of the a-pinenes by the combination of saturated hydrocarbons, it is possible to obtain from a relatively small quantity of terpenic essences comprising e-pinenes, an amount of action much greater and more efficient than that which could be obtained even from a much larger quantity of aforesaid terpenic essence alone, which latter I have found, will evaporate with its usual rapidity without having suflicient time to accomplish both the aforesaid described actions.

The compound after it has performed both its chemi' cal actions as above described, can readily be removed by a cloth if it is not desired to retain it on the metal surfaces to act as a lubricating agent.

The compound has been found to be effective not only for the protection of iron or steel, but also for the pro tection of those metals (zinc, brass, alloys of lead, antimony, silver, etc.) which are more or less affected by the action of gaseous agents contained in the atmosphere, as for example, iodine, chlorine, sulphur and so on.

Thus, in the case of silver whose surface is altered by the action of sulphurated hydrogen, the black, bluish or greyish spots of sulphide become discolored by the action of my compound, very probably due to the fact that the sulphide is transformed into sulphate of silver and then disappear completely when the metal is rubbed with a cloth wetted in my compound.

The silver as a result of this treatment remains polished and bright for along time.

As has been explained, the protection of these metals is actually due to the formation of an effective protecting oxide or to immunization or passivation of the metal through the action of the oxygen activated by the a-pinenes, which, being mixed with fluid paraffin and gasoline, have the opportunity of coming and remaining in direct contact with the surface of the metals for a sufficiently long time to become peroxidized in the initial phase of the application of the compound on metals and later to oxidize the surface of the metal.

The preparation and proportions of each component or ingredient should be such that there results a composition having the desired density which is perfectly homogeneous, which on being left for long periods does not perunit any of its components to separate or precipitate and which includes a-pinenes in suflicient amount to render such composition capable of protecting the metal to which it has been applied against oxidation in the manner aforesaid.

I have found that for the best results depending upon the condition under which the composition is to be used, the combination of saturated hydrocarbons should constitute from about 70% to about by volume, of the entire composition, and that the liquid terpenic hydrocarbons comprising a-pinenes or a combination of such hydrocarbons comprising a-pinenes should constitute from about 25% to about 15% by volume, of the entire composition, the a-pinenes content in the composition preferably comprising from about 20% to about 10% by volume, of the composition.

In those compositions in which the combination of saturated hydrocarbons is constituted of fluid paraffin and gasoline, the fluid paraflin may constitute from about 60% to about 7 0% by volume of the entire composition, and the gasoline may constitute from about 25% to about 15% by volume of the entire composition.

The following is an example of composition which has proved satisfactory in practice:

EXAMPLE Liquid paraffin 70 cc. Gasoline 15 cc.

Terpeulc essences or materials comprising wpinenes as the essences of Pinus, Eucalyptus, Juniper, and others, or a combination of two or more terpenic essences or materials comprising apinenes.

15 00. or more, according to their content in a-pinenas.

The above example is of an antioxidcs composition which can serve also as a lubricant for working parts.

The relative amounts given for each component in the above example are those which in practice have been found to obtain the best results.

It should however be appreciated that the proportion of each component can be varied to .suit the conditions and purposes for which the composition is to be used and without loss of the antioxidizing or lubricating or preserving qualities of the composition, which qualities are based upon the association or combination of the essential ingredients and specially on the peculiar properties of autoxidation and of activation of the oxygen possessed by the a-pinenes.

The composition given in the example has excellent lubricating properties because it is sufliciently fluid to facilitate relative movements between working metal parts while it does not congeal or coagulate under intense cold, or readily becomes 'too fluid in warm climatic conditions so as to leave the metal to which it is to be applied, unprotected.

The detergent, reducing, and oxidising qualities of the composition are best demonstrated by the fact that when the composition is used for internal cleaning of firearms in which high explosive charges have been used, the residue of'combustion of the powders is dissolved and removed, and the ensuing oxidation substantially prevented.

Since the composition does not tend to dry on the parts to which it has been applied, it does not form a patina or coating which would impede the action of moving parts and which afterwards will be ditlicult to remove.

It will be understood that one or more of the components herein designated may be replaced by similar material or materials having corresponding properties, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: I

1. An antioxidizing composition for protecting metal articles against rust or other kinds of oxidation, comprising two saturated hydrocarbons selected from the group consisting of liquid paraffin, gasoline and petroleum oil, and a liquid hydrocarbon comprising apinene capable of readily absorbing oxygen to become first oxidized and then act as an oxidizing agent to produce a protecting oxide on the metal surface, said saturated hydrocarbons constituting from about 70% to 85% by volume, of the composition and being present in suflicient quantity to retard the evaporation of the u-pinenes for asulficient period to enable them to accomplish both the aforesaid actions, and said liquid hydrocarbon consisting essentially of a-pinene and constituting from about 15% to 25 by volume, of the composition and being present in suflicient amount to produce a protecting oxide on the metal surface and to render, in this way, the composition capable of protecting the metal to which it is applied against further oxidation.

2. An antioxidizing composition for protecting metal articles against rust or other kinds of oxidation, comprising two saturated hydrocarbons selected from the group consisting of liquid paraflin, gasoline and petroleum oil, and a liquid terpenic hydrocarbon comprising a-pinene, said saturated hydrocarbons constituting from about to by volume, of the composition and being present in sutficient quantity to enable the ready removal of existing rust or other oxides on the metal surface and the cleaning of such surface, and the liquid terpenic hydrocarbon constituting from about 25% to 15%, by volume, of the composition and consisting essentially of a-pinenes which are capable of readily absorbing oxygen from the existing rust or other oxides and from the atmosphere to become first oxidized and then act as an oxidizing agent to produce a protecting oxide on the metal surface, and said a-pinenes constituting from about 20% to 10%, by volume, of the composition and being present in sutlicient amount to render the composition capable of protecting the metal to which it is applied against oxidation.

3. An antioxidizing composition such as defined 11 claim 1 in which he liquid hydrocarbon comprising a-pinene is composed of a terpenic essence consisting essentially of a-pinenes.

4. An antioxidizing composition such as defined in claim 1 in which said saturated hydrocarbons consist of liquid paraflin and gasoline.

5. An antioxidizing composition such as defined in claim 1 in which said saturated hydrocarbons consist of 70 cc; of liquid paraffin, 15 cc. of gasoline and 15 cc. of liquid hydrocarbon consisting essentially of u-pinenes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS "1,344,338 Eisenhauer June 22,1920 2,186,018 Griesinger Jan. 9, 1940 2,291,460 Francis July 28, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,081 Great Britain of 1903 248,463 Great Britain Sept. 1, 1925 

1. AN ANTIOXIDIZING COMPOSITION FOR PROTECTING METAL ARTICLES AGAINST RUST OR OTHER KINDS OF OXIDATION, COMPRISING TWO SATURATED HYDROCARBONS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF LIQUID PARAFFIN, GASOLINE AND PETROLEUM OIL, AND A LIQUID HYDROCARBON COMPRISING A PINENE CAPABLE OF READILY ABSORBING OXYGEN TO BECOME FIRST OXIDIZED AND THEN ACT AS AN OXIDIZING AGENT TO PRODUCE A PROTECTING OXIDE ON THE METAL SURFACE, SAID SATURATED HYDROCARBONS CONSTITUTING FROM ABOUT 70% TO 85% BY VOLUME, OF THE COMPOSITION AND BEING PRESENT IN SUFFICIENT QUANTITY TO RETARD THE EVAPORATION OF THE A-PINENES FOR A SUFFICIENT PERIOD TO ENABLE THEM TO ACCOMPLISH BOTH THE AFORESAID ACTIONS, AND SAID LIQUID HYDROCARBON CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A-PINENE AND CONSTITUTING FROM ABOUT 15% TO 25%, BY VOLUME, OF THE COMPOSITION AND BEING PRESENT IN SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO PRODUCE A PROTECTING OXIDE ON THE METAL SURFACE AND TO RENDER, IN THIS WAY, THE COMPOSITION CAPABLE OF PROTECTING THE METAL TO WHICH IT IS APPLIED AGAINST FURTHER OXIDATION. 